vlaze.com

John Lackey returns to the Angels rotation on Wednesday to face the White Sox. The big right-hander has missed the first 6 weeks of the season on the DL with a strained tricep Lackey had some rehab starts in Rancho Cucamonga and had an 88-pitch performance last Friday and reported no problems. The Angels were in a tailspin last weekend losers of 4 straight through Sunday's 3 game series with Tampa. The Angels scored only 9 runs during that stretch of games. Then on Monday the Angels exploded for 10 runs in winning the first game of the series. Mark Buehrle has been up and down all season. Even with Buehrle's inconsistency, The White Sox starting staff and bullpen has carried the club this season. Starter Jose Contreras is sitting with a respectable an ERA at 3.66 In his last start Contreras surrendered only 1 earned run in 7 innings in victory over the Mariners. Lackey may give the Angels 5 or 6 innings in his first start and will turn the game over to an Angel bullpen sporting an ERA near 5. I don't like playing on favorites whose starter is coming off the DL. Take the White Sox in an underdog spot at +130.